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Boehner said reports that more than 40 veterans died while waiting to get treatment at VA’s Phoenix facility show an “appalling” failure in the department, but cautioned that ousting Shinseki would not be a cure-all.

“This isn’t about one person. This isn’t about the secretary, it is about the entire system underneath him. The general could leave and we could wait around for months for the nomination process and we get a new person, but the disaster continues,” he said.

“Some of this is intrinsic into the system and just changing people at the top may appear to represent change but it’s the culture, it’s the system. It’s the challenge they face,” she said during a news conference on Thursday.

The comments come as a new CBS News poll found that 33 percent of Americans blame Shinseki for the problems at the VA and a small number of lawmakers, including Democratic Rep. John Barrow of Georgia, are calling for Shinseki to step down.

Boehner also slammed the office of the Veterans Administration’s inspector general.

“I am not confident that the IG has shown the interest or the capacity to get to the bottom of what is a systemic failure,” he said. “It’s more than just a waiting period. … It’s important for us to understand the failures of what has gone on here.”

The IG’s office has expanded its investigation to 26 VA facilities across the country, probing reports that managers falsified patient wait times and attempted to cover up problems in the VA system.

The House moved Wednesday night by an overwhelming vote to give the secretary more latitude to oust any executives involved in negligence or mismanagement cases.

The White House dispatched deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors to the Phoenix hospital to investigate the scandal on Thursday, following a speech from President Barack Obama on Wednesday in which he said his administration could aggressively investigate reports of a coverup and waiting lists.

“If these allegations prove to be true, it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful, and I will not tolerate it — period,” Obama said.